John Ellis returned to Florida Southern Athletics as an Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach in September 2026.
Previously with FSC from August 2021 to February 2022, Ellis returns to the Mocs after coaching at the IMG Academy in Bradenton as an assistant strength coach for the football and basketball programs beginning in 2022. After one year, he was elevated to the lead Strength and Conditioning Coach for the Track and Field program at IMG, as well as assisting other sports. Over the last year, Ellis coordinated strength programs for the Lyford Cay International School as an Assistant Athletic Director, before returning to FSC.
Prior to Florida Southern, Ellis spent two years working as the Head Sports Performance Coach at Next Level Sports Performance in Baltimore, Maryland. While in Maryland he also completed a graduate internship with Towson University strength and conditioning. Coach Ellis served as the Assistant Sports Performance Coach and then Director of Sports Performance for Windermere Preparatory School in Windermere, Florida from August 2016 to May 2018. There oversaw all aspects of sports performance for the 12 varsity sports teams.
Ellis got his start at UCF, where he served as a Graduate Assistant and then an Assistant Strength & Conditioning Coach. With the Knights, he supervised the strength and conditioning programs for women’s basketball, volleyball, cross country, track and field, and assisted with the baseball and football teams. He received his Bachelor of Science in Sport & Fitness from the University of Central Florida (2011) and his Master of Science in Human Performance from Liberty University (2021).
Coach Ellis is currently Strength & Conditioning Coach Certified (SCCC) through the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association (CSCCa) and holds a Sport Performance Coach certification through USA Weightlifting (USAW), National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) certified Performance Enhancement Specialist (PES), a NCBTMB Board certified Massage Therapist, a Florida Licensed Massage Therapist (LMT), is a member of the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA), and the National High School Strength Coaches Association (NHSSCA).
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